Car door structure



V 5 Sheets-Sheet l olllwlbllhllnlillloll f/v va/v'roes- EUGENE J FsH/s I KENNETH J TOE/N H T'Ys May 26, 1931.

E. J. FEHR ET AL CARIDOOR STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 27, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOES- EUGENE J FE'HE A/E/YNETH J 755//\ E. J. FEHR ET AL GAR DOOR STRUCTURE May 26, 1931.

Filed Jan. 27, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 N\/ENToEs- EUGENE J FEHE KENNETH J Toe/N Patented May 26, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT men EUGEE-NE J.

AN-D KENNETH JZTOBIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 'ASSIGNOR T0 CAMEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS OAR DOOR STRUCTURE Application filed January 27, 1928. Serial No. 249,824.

The present invention relates tocar door structure.

More particularly the present invention relates to sliding doors such as are used in railway house cars. It is very desirable, of course,=that such doors slide easily when it is intended to move such doors, but at other times the sliding effect should be minimized. It is common to provide roller bearings for sliding doors, and it has been proposed to lift the doors relative to the rollers for the purpose of transferring the weight of said doors to said rollers when the sliding movement is desired and at other times to allow the door 'tolrest with a broad bearing surface of said door disposed upon the track which carries saiddoonwhereby the efiective friction will minimize the danger of accidentalsliding.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sliding door and operating means therefor, which door and operating means are adaptablefor railway house cars as they are at ,present designed and which with a minimum of parts will accomplish the desired results vas above outlined.

A further object is to provide operating mechanism for a sliding door which is convenient for operation and which occupies a minimum of space. V

A further object is to provide operating mechanism for a sliding door by means of Which a uniform lifting effect may be had upon said door, which mechanism will avoid the necessity of using long bars.

A further object is to'provide operatlng mechanism for sliding doors which mechwhereby the weight of said door is carried upon rollers V Figure 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating part of the structure shown in Figure 1,;

Figure 4 is a view on an enlarged scale showing part of the structure shown in Figure 2; V

Figure '5 is a sectional viewt-alken along the plane indicated by the arrows 55 of Fig ure 1;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the plane indicated by the arrows '66 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the plane indicated -by the-arrows 77 of Fig- Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along the plane indicated by the arrows 8-8 of Figure 2.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the

numeral 1 indicates the side of a railway house car, and the numeral 2 indicates a sliding door; The particular door chosen for illustration is a'bottom supported door, rollers 3-3 being provided near the front and rear edges of said door for carrying the weightof said door when said door is to be moved with a sliding movement; The structure for guiding the door at the top and for sealing said door at its front and rear edges forms no part of the present invention and need not be de- 1 scribed herein.

Secured adjacent to the front and rear edges of the door 2 are a pair of brackets 4 and 5, which brackets may be secured to said door by means of rivets 6--6. ,Said brackets 4 and 5 have downwardly extendingv finger portions 7-7 adapted to engage the outer edge of the track member 8, which extends longitudinally of the car. A portion of the, door 2 is adapted to abut the inner edge ofthe track member 8"to limit outward swinging movement of the lower edge of said door 2.

Between the brackets 4 and 5 at the front and rear edgesof thedoor 2 isan angle9 having the horizontally disposed flange 10 adapted to engage fiatwise against the track member 8. The vertically disposed flange ll of said angle 9 is riveted or otherwise secured to the door 2.

Swingingly carried by the brackets 4 and 5 are the roller retainers 12 and 13, said retainers 12 and 13 being pivoted on pins 12 and 13 respectively, which retainers comprise casings having inner and outer walls for supporting the pins l414. Said pins 14-14 rot-atably retain the rollers 3-3 above referred to. The retainers 12 and 13 are provided with extension portions 15-15 providing elongated slots 16-16, which open toward one another and which provide vertically disposed grooves. The retainers 12 and 13 with their slots 16-16 are symmetrically disposed relative to one another. Arranged in alignment with one another are a pair of bars 17-17, the spaced ends 18-18 of which are disposed within the slots 16-16 of the retainers 12 and 1.3. Under normal conditions, that is-when the door is in its lowermost posit-ion, the weight of the rollers 3 and their retainers 12 or 13 will cause the rollers to rest rather lightly upon the track member 8. The weight will be suflicient, however, to prevent the idle rotation of said rollers 3-3. The axis of the rods 17-17 is substantially parallel with the door 2 and with the track member 8. Said axis is disposed below the pivotal mountings 12 and 13' of the retainers 12 and 13. It will be clear, therefore, that if said rods 17-17 are moved apart, their reaction against the retainers 12 and 13 will be to exert a lifting leverage force upon the brackets 1 and 5, whereby to tend to lift the door 2. The mechanism for exerting force upon the rods 17-17 to spread them apart will now be described.

Disposed on the vertical center line of the door 2 is a bracket 19, which may be riveted to the door 2. Said bracket provides the pair of lugs 20 20 for loosely receiving the rods 17-17 near the adjacent extremities of said rods. The other extremities of said rods 17-17 are guided by lugs 21-21, which form parts of the brackets 22-22 secured to the door 2 adjacent to the retainers 12 and 13. Swingingly carried by the bracket 19 about an axis disposed substantially symmetrical with the bracket 19, is a handle 23. The axis about which the handle 23 is mounted will preferably intersect the axis of the rods 17-17 and will be substantially at right angles to the plane of the door 2. Said axis of swing of the handle is indicated by the numeral 24. The handle 23 carries a cam member, indicated by the numeral 25, which cam member has its axis coincident with the axis 2 1. The particular cam chosen for illustration is approximately elliptical, having its long axis vertically disposed when the door is in its normal or lowermost position. The short axis of the cam is disposed in alignment with the axis of the rods 17-17 when said door is in its lowermost or normal. position. The bottom side 26 of the handle 23 is substantially fiat, but

is rounded, as indicated by the numerals 27 -27, at the extremities of said flat portion. Expressed in other language, the rounded portions 27-27 are spaced a greater distance from the axis 24 than are the other portions of the handle between said rounded portions 27-27. By reason of this construction, when the handle 23 is swung about its axis 24, not only will be rods 17-17 be urged apart, but a direct lifting effect will be exerted upon the door by reason of the engagement of one or the other of said rounded portions 27 with the track member 8.

A mode of o eration of the above described embodiment o the present invention will be clear without detailed explanation. When the parts are in normal position, whether the door is closed or open or in any intermediate position, the weight of the door 2 will be carried with a maximum of friction by the flange 10 of the angle 9, which flange 10 rests flatwise upon the track member 8. By reason of the friction between the flange 10 and the track member 8, the danger of accidental sliding movement of the door will be minimized, whereby in railroad service the jarring effects incident to the shifting of cars will not cause destructive slamming. When it is desired to slide the door. the operator will grasp the handle 23 and pull same in a plane parallel to the door 2. Ordinarily the operator will pull the handle in the direction in which he intends to move the door, whereby with a single movement he will not only lift the door upon the rollers 3-3, but will slide said door in the desired direction. As indicated above, the lifting of the door is accomplished through a plurality of instrumentalities. By reason of the fact that the rounded portions 27-27 are at av greater distance from the axis 24 than are the portions of the handle 23 intermediate of said portions 27-27. the swinging move ment of the handle 23 will result in a leverage action to communicate a lifting movement to the door. Moreover, the swinging movement of the handle 23 will produce a cam ming action upon the adjacent extremities of the rods 17-17, wln-u'eby said rods will be urged apart along the axis of said rods 17-17. Inasmuch as the line of movement of the rods 17-17 is below the pivotal axes 12 and 13 of the retainers 12 and 13, the effect of urging the rods 17-17 apart will be to exert a leverage force upon said retainers 12 and 13 about the. rollers 3-3 as fulcrums, communicating a lifting movement to the door 2. This lifting movement will be accompanied by a sliding movement of the extremities 1.8-18 of the rods 17-17 'ithin the slots 16-16. Figure 4 illustrates conditions when the handle 23 has been swung close to an extremity of its movement in one direction. It will be noted that under these conditions the extremities 18-18 of the rod 17 17 are disposed in the opposite ends of the slots 1616 from the ends occupied by said extremities when the door is in its lowermost or normal position, as in Figure 3.

Due to the described construction, when the operator removes the pull upon the handle 23, the. door will descend to its normal position, transmitting motion through the rods 17-17 to the cam 25 to return the handle 23 to its normal mid-position. Due to this construction, the operator cannot through inadvertence leave the parts in the position in which the rollers carry the weight of the door. By reason of the fact that the handle 23 is symmetrically disposed between the front and rear edges of the door, it is possible to use rods 1717 of minimum length, whereby the danger of distortion of said rods in service is minimized.

Though a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. It is intended to cover all such modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is- 1. In combination, a sliding door, a track member, rollers, retainers for said rollers carried by said door and movable relative to said door, aligned .rods cooperating with said retainers, and means for moving said rods apart to transmit a leverage lifting movement to said door about said rollers as fulcrums.

2. In combination, a sliding door, a track 7 member, rollers, retainers for said rollers, said rollers being swingingly secured to said door, and means for communicating a swinging movement to said retainers below the axes of swing of said retainers, said means comprising aligned members cooperating with said retainers and cam means for moving said aligned members apart.

3. In combination, a sliding door, a track member, roller retainers swingingly carried by said door, rollers in said retainers adapted to engage said track member, and aligned means for communicating a swinging movement to said retainers to lift said door, said aligned means comprising a pair of rods and means operable in a single movement for operating said rods. 7 l

4. In combination, a sliding door, a track member, roller retainers swingingly carried by said door, rollers in said retainers adapted to engage said track member, and aligned means for communicating a swinging movement to said retainers to lift said door, said aligned means comprising a pair of rods and means operable in a single movement for operating said rods, said'operating means including a handle swingingly mounted in a plane parallel with said door, said handle having a pair of abutments adapted to engage said track member to communicate a lifting movement to said door.

5. In combination, a sliding door, a track member, roller retainers swinginglycarried by said door, rollers in said retainers adapted to engage said track member, and aligned means for communicating a swinging movement to said retainers to lift said door, said aligned means comprising a pair of rods and means operable in a single movement for operating said rods, said operating means being disposed substantially symmetrically between said rollers, said operating means having a pair of abutments adapted to engage said track member to communicate a lifting movement to said door.

6. In combination, a sliding door, a trac member, roller retainers swingingly carried by said door, rollers in said retainers adapted to engage said track member, and aligned means for communicating a swinging movement to said retainers to lift said door, said aligned means comprising a pair of rods and means operable in a single movement for operating said rods, said operating means including a handle swingingly mounted in a plane parallel with said door, said handle when in normal position being disposed substantially symmetrically between said rollers, said handle having a pair of abutments adapted to engage said track member to communicate a lifting movement to said door.

7. In combination, a sliding door, a track member, said door having a portion adapted to lie flatwise upon said track member, rollers, retainers for said rollers, which retainers are carried by said door, and lever means for conjointly moving said retainers and for engaging said track member to transmit a direct lifting efi'ort upon said door.

8. In combination, a sliding door, a track member, roller retainers swingingly carried by said door, rollers in said retainers adapted to engage said track member, said door having a member adapted to engage flatwise against said track member for bearing the weight of said door, a lever pivoted to said door, said lever having a pair of abutment portions adapted to engage said track member, and a cam portion for communicating swinging movement to said retainers.

Signed atChicago, Illinois, this 19th day of January, 1928.

EUGENE J. FEHR. KENNETH J. TOBIN. 

